Transport america orientation-"thank alot!!"

Ok, Im a student driver. I know, as a new driver, that Im going to have to take my bumps and just get my feet wet and get some experience. I know that in trucking, there are good and bad companies, just like any other job. I know that there are going to be times where that co. is going to "piss you off". It happens. We dont like it, and many a time, it SHOULDNT, but it does. But the way this company gave me the shaft at orientation in Scottsburg Indiana, was enough to make me not wanna work ONE day for them. Heres a few number of issues that happened....

#1....Talking to my recruiter, we discuss my mode of transportation to Scottsburg. I live in Cleveland, Ohio. My home terminal is North Jackson, Ohio. Appearently, TA(TRANSPORT AMERICA) has vans you can drive down to the training center. By doing this, you dont have to take the greyhound bus, and you dont have to drive your own personal car and spend money on fuel. Yes they will compensate you on fuel, but only to the same cost as the bus ticket and with gas prices as they are now, I doubt I would get the money I spent on gas compared to the cost of the bus ticket. So I decided to do the "van thing" They just handed us(the students) the keys(which was suprising to me, but ok)and told us to drive to the TA Grove City terminal near columbus ohio. So we do that and finally make it to Indiana. Now I asked, SPECIFICALLY...To my recruiter, "DO WE TAKE THE VAN BACK HOME?" I asked this because I DID NOT wanna take the bus. She said "YES, THATS WHY WE HAVE THE VAN OPTION SO STUDENTS WHO CHOOSE TO DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE THE BUS." But once the van is down there, it stays at the training center and you have to get on the TA bus(not the greyhound. Yes, TA owns a bus) to take you to and from the training center. If we want dinner(which they pay for, but only 7.50)you have to walk to the dinning establishments, which isnt far, but they trust us to drive 6 hours to Scottsburg, but not 2 minutes to get a bite to eat(???)So on Friday, they wait to tell us,(those who took the van) that we are going back by greyhound bus, because there are NO vans here. So what they did, in reality, was had the STUDENTS drive the van for them to scottsburg, for FREE, so they could have the van for themselves and waited till friday to tell us we are taking the bus when they KNEW ALL ALONG that we were NOT taking the VAN BACK! So yes, I was pissed needless to say. WE FINISH ORIENTATION, at 1230pm on saturday and they take us by the only TA van left at scottsburg to the greyhound station in Louisville KY. at 1:30pm. NOT ONLY, do they LIE about the van B.S., but the schedule me on the bus to leave at 11PM. Meaning I would have to wait 11 HOURS AT THE GREYHOUND STATION JUST TO GO BACK HOME. NOT ONLY THAT, MY ARRIVAL TIME WAS NOT UNTIL 1030AM THE NEXT MORNING!!! When I asked the people at TA "Why arnt we taking the van as promised? Why didnt you plan on this and WHY did you wait until FRIDAY to tell us" When I asked about that, they got pissed. At TRANSPORT AMERICA, they have an "OPEN DOOR POLICY" and wanna help you through ANY problem or issue you may have. When I asked about this problem, the response of the manager and staff of the training center was..."Well you can just WALK HOME THEN!" Gee, thanks! When asked about this last minutes bus ride and HOW am I going to get back to my car at the TERMINAL form THE GREYHOUND STATION, theyre response was "I dont know. (!???!?!?!?!?) You can get a cab, but we will not compensate you for that" WOW!!!. Thats all i gotta say.

#2........Me and the recruiter discussed, before orientation, about taking the truck home after training. She told me I can as long as I find a place to keep it. I get a letter while at Scottsburg IN., showing what I discussed with my recruiter(pay, hometime and what not) and it shows on the paper that me and my recruiter NEVER discussed anything about taking the truck home after training. I call my recruiter regarding this issue, she pauses as if i caught her off guard, and says "let me call you back in 15 minutes" An hour goes by, NO CALL BACK. I call her twice after that on her cell phone number which she gave me. The 1st time she doesnt answer. The 2nd time, not only does she NOT ANSWER, she presses ignore on my call! It is now Monday, SHE STILL HAS NOT CALLED BACK. Thanks!

#3....Im not going to complain about this too much, but the breakfast was, at BEST, SUB-STANDARD. I wasnt expecting a 5 STAR meal, but It wasnt much to get you a good start to the day, and WAS NOTHING to what the recruiter said it was. But ohh well. After the other crap, that was the least of my concerns.

#4....Staff was VERY RUDE and VERY UNPROFESSIONAL, and just INCONSIDERATE.(Like David Sparks-"STUDENT TRAINING MANAGER") Two of the instructors also had these HUGE boogers hanging out of theyre nose. SO GROSS.

CONCLUSION......(welcome to trucking i guess?)
Look people, I dont ask much. I wasnt asking TRANSPORT AMERICA to bend over backwards for me. I wasnt asking for SPECIAL TREATMENT. I know Im new. But put yourself in my shoes. Would you wanna work for a company who does things like that? A co. that doesnt seem to have it togther or know whats going on? A co. that not only lies to you during orientation, but leaves you hanging in the dark? Think about something....If a company treats you like that during you orientation, how do you think they are gonna treat you on the job???? This is not a job, this is a LIFESTYLE. Im not going to give up in trucking, but I am with this company. They can stick it as far as im concerned.

 

Are you kidding me???!!!

Get out of trucking. That orientation was the EASY part of the job.

*I took that van 6 hours also. No problems.

*I rode the bus from the motel to the training facility. 10 minutes, no problem.

*I didn't look for a 5 star meal. The food provided was good, filling, and free. Wait until you get on the road Princess. No 5 star meals out here.

* I took Greyhond home. Got stuck in Nashville for hours. no problem

If you are still with TA, LEAVE!!! Swift is hiring. See how well they feed you and treat you.

TA, for the most part has treated me well. Do I get the loads I want all the time? No. Do I understand the reason for all the loads I get? No.
But if you have an issue, they will try to help you with it. I think you should look for another line of work. If you could not handle orientation, then you will not be able to handle truck driving.

Oh, news flash: RECRUITERS LIE!!!

 

I went with ta also and quit after 1 week with trainer. Do your logs right is all they preach (bull sh..) my last day we drove with no sleep from fri morn at 8.00 am untill 1.30 pm sat 29 hours I went home and started a lawn care company I do think about trucking but I dont think it is for me.

 

I went with ta also and quit after 1 week with trainer. Do your logs right is all they preach (bull sh..) my last day we drove with no sleep from fri morn at 8.00 am untill 1.30 pm sat 29 hours I went home and started a lawn care company I do think about trucking but I dont think it is for me.

Maybe TA is not for you, but I wouldnt give up on trucking after one company.Maybe trucking is not for you. Maybe just TA is not for you

 

it's almost always better to take you own car to these orientations -otherwise you are trapped (companies like this) or bound for Greyhound (good for a laugh).

Don't complain about what you can get free.

 

I laughed thru that whole read. I am starting monday, and gee I think I can handle walking to eat a meal that they give me "only" 7.50 for. Better than everywhere else where you feed yourself. And I liked the part where you say "Look people, I dont ask much"

 

I know we're not supposed to say people's names, but the student driver manager you speak of, name rhymes with bavid darks, is a huge prick. Why does that guy still work there he's running that company into the ground. FIRE HIM! I did the TA orientation thing last January and know all the stuff you're saying is true. You'll get through it, it's not all bad, but you better drive your own car there, and watch out for that prick.

 

well ya know potenial drivers,ride the hound everyday to and from orintation class.No it is not a pleasent ride do to the convict's and riffraff of every day life but suck it up coz it is costs effective for these mega carriers.

As far as the food situation goes go to be a patient in the hospital for 2 weeks and stare at nasty oatmeal, scrambled eggs,dry toast thats it we're talkin yummy here.So man wake up and get mature here,bottom line some companies will treat u like crap and use you as a class filler.

Good Luck to U

 

i hate to say it driver...but if you are whining this much already this is not the industry for you. i just got terminated from transport america for log violations. the ending was not nice but when i went through orientation 2 years ago it all seemed reasonable to me. this a job after all. you got paid for orentation and they comped you something for food. i cant wait to see your blog when you are stuck in laredo,tx waiting on a ld that is 28hours behind secdual. this industry is hell to deal with and you have to enjoy the good parts and not let the bad get to you. i got fired because i would take any ld they put on me(legal or not) i hate sitting and like driving. once you get a few years in you will be able to tell the junk companies from the good ones. TA is not a bad place to work for just run a legal log and expect to sit quite a lot waiting for a fedex ld.
keep on trucking..

 

Sorry to hear that. I drive legal, and I do sit some, but I'm not in a hurry. If I want to take a whiz, I pull over and do it. I enjoy driving because I don't rush myself.

I remember my trainer would make me fudge my logs because our logs had to match. I told him that one day it was going to catch up with him but he said the company says not to, but they expected us to fudge them so that we could deliver more loads. We never delivered any extra loads and I showed him that fact on paper.

Plus he was always in a hurry. He used to piss in a bottle while we were rolling. I told him he could do what he wanted, but if I need to piss I'm pulling over. I did care what he said. That dude was a good guy but he was a nut.